Trawl fishing catches huge amounts of seafood. It can also devastate the seafloor

Trawl fishing can haul vast quantities of seafood in a single tow, but bottom trawling is also one of the most extensive direct forms of human disturbance to seabed habitats worldwide. The article describes how trawl nets can be several “football fields” long, dragging along the seafloor with heavy doors and a footrope to stir sediment and herd species such as cod, sole, flounder, and shrimp. It notes that unwanted marine life—bycatch—is often discarded, frequently dead. Using UN Food and Agriculture Organization-based data cited in a 2020 study, the piece says fisheries discarded more than 20 billion pounds (9 million metric tons) annually from 2010 to 2014, with trawls accounting for nearly 60%. Marine scientists warn deep-sea corals and sponges can take decades or centuries to recover.